‘Teacup’ Recap: ‘I’m a Witness to the Sickness’ & ‘You Don’t Know What It Means to Win’

10/25/2024

Written by John Edward Betancourt

TEACUP -- "I'm A Witness To The Sickness" Episode 105 -- Pictured: Rob Morgan as McNab -- (Photo by: Mark Hill/PEACOCK)

Caution: This article contains spoilers for Episodes Five and Six of ‘Teacup’. To revisit the previous episode, click here.

If there one particular aspect about the truth that we can all agree upon, is that once it starts coming out… there is no stopping all of it from coming forth. Because we love the truth, we crave its purity so when that first morsel of it is placed in front of us… we demand it all, and this is something that applies to storytelling as well. Because once it hits in a story, the audience or the reader simply has to know it all, and creatives understand that and often just let the floodgates open when they start the process. If anything, this is top of mind today, simply because the truth came pouring out in the next two chapters of Teacup on Peacock, and that made ‘I’m a Witness to the Sickness’ and ‘You Don’t Know What It Means to Win’ quite powerful in nature.

Because now we know what these poor souls are up against, and what they will have to do to be free, courtesy of a grandiose flashback. One that informed us that McNab, has a long history with these beings. One that brought forth traumas untold for him, and a grand understanding of the fact… that these creatures from another world… have been visiting us for ages, and they oft come down in pairs. One made up of a good soul, one made up of a bad soul and they simply battle it out on a regular basis and steal human souls in the process. For reasons that he was not able to figure out. But he did learn a great deal otherwise in taking part in fighting these creatures, to the point where he decided to take on others to help him fight the bad ones. Because he was desperate to make a difference.

In fact, he recruited young Travis, whom James encountered in the basement, to help fight this scourge, and he educated him on all things alien, including how they use meteors to land upon our world and can easily jump from body to body since they have no body of their own, and well… that was important to note because McNab was planning an all-out assault on the Navarro farm because he knew the evil beings were present here, and knew that Travis needed to know how to protect himself against these creatures, hence the mask. But alas, the assault went awry, leading to the moments that set in motion this series, alongside disaster regarding Travis and the other alien commando in this group, Olsen. Since Olsen didn’t survive and Travis was left bleeding and dying, and eventually perished in an awful way in front of James.

TEACUP -- "You Don't Know What It Means To Win" Episode 106 -- Pictured: (l-r) Yvonne Strahovski as Maggie Chenoweth, Kathy Baker as Ellen Chenoweth -- (Photo by: Mark Hill/PEACOCK)

Who of course, heard most of this story before Travis left this plane of existence, which was a smooth and genius way in which to deliver these flashbacks, and after rescuing Ruben and getting a beating for sleeping with his wife, they were headed back to the Chenowith farm, with everyone else and McNab. Which brought forth the most harrowing segments of this story. Because after McNab received treatment for his wounds, he made a grand escape and left everyone shivering in fear. In part because they didn’t know if he would cause more harm, but more so because James filled everyone in on the truth, and Nicholas found some of McNab’s literature on the aliens and they came to realize they were going to be in for a long and terrifying fight for certain.

Mainly because, Ellen claimed that Assassin left her body, and if that was the case, because we simply don’t know, especially since Arlo has snuck through Harbinger’s firewall… they haven’t a clue as to who the villain is, and that’s scary. Because now they cannot trust one another, they cannot be sure who is who and they have to find the evil within. Because it was made pretty clear here that Assassin will stop at nothing to bring Harbinger down, and well… in order to save the day… they will have to rely on what Nicholas found in the notes to survive, and they will have to do something quite awful. In that, to end the threat and to banish the evil that is Assassin… they have to drown the person that he is hiding within. Which is an ugly and hideous task to ask, one that will fundamentally change these folks for certain.

All of which brought forth, a pair of stunning episodes. That offered some stunningly hard truths. The kind that outright sets the stage for an epic finale for this show. One that will push this family to dark corners. But while we wait to see how that plays out and how this family deals with such realities, we can also celebrate one terrifying tale. For there were a bevy of tense moments in these episodes. The kind that reminded us that this series does hold not back and well, just like that… we are stuck waiting for a powerhouse ending to a powerhouse tale. One that has real potential to devastate the audience as much as the characters, when hard choices are made to keep people safe. Until next time.

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